Today's the Day

 

Gulp.  Today's the day I finally got up the nerve to launch my new business--Bookworm Bookmarks.   Through this new, online venture I have found a way to wed my love for calligraphy with my love for books, quotations, and blogging.  Bookworm Bookmarks is an extension of my work-from-home business, Calligraphics.

 

I've been working on this behind the scenes for a while now.  You can find the permanent link in the sidebar under "My Blogs."  For some reason, the link to the Bookworm Categories isn't working yet, but eventually you will be able to browse through the categories. 

 

So, when you have a few minutes, check it out and let me know what you think! 

Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith

February 28
Real Estate in Heaven

Knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. (Hebrews 10:34)

This is well. Our substance here is very unsubstantial; there is no substance in it. But God has given us a promise of real estate in the gloryland, and that promise comes to our hearts with such full assurance of its certainty that we know in ourselves that we have an enduring substance there. Yes, "we have" it even now. They say, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," but we have our bird in the bush and in the hand, too. Heaven is even now our own. We have the title deed of it, we have the earnest of it, we have the firstfruits of it. We have heaven in price, in promise, and in principle; this we know not only by the hearing of the ear but "in ourselves."

Should not the thought of the better substance on the other side of Jordan reconcile us to present losses? Our spending money we may lose, but our treasure is safe. We have lost the shadows, but the substance remains, for our Savior lives, and the place which He has prepared for us abides. There is a better land, a better substance, a better promise; and all this comes to us by a better covenant; wherefore, let us be in better spirits, and say unto the Lord, "Every day will I bless thee; and praise thy name for ever and ever."

Charles Haddon Spurgeon 

Children's Poetry Month: I Never Saw a Moor

Children's Poetry Month is winding down, so I thought I'd add another poem today.  It harmonizes with my morning thoughts of faith and confidence.  Sam had to recite this poem in school a few years ago and I learned it right along with him.  It didn't take long to memorize; it's just a few short lines.  I like it.  I hope you do, too.

I Never Saw a Moor

I never saw a moor
I never saw the sea;
Yet I know how the heather looks,
And what a wave must be.

I never spoke with God,
Nor visited in Heaven;
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the chart were given.

Emily Dickinson 

This Constant Confidence

This morning's Daily Entry in the Chequebook of the Bank of Faith reminded me of this quote from Thomas Watson.  "This constant confidence" that Spurgeon speaks of is the very thing from which our contentment comes.

Contentment is a divine thing: It becomes ours, not by acquisition, but infusion; it is a slip taken off from the tree of life, and planted by the spirit of God in the soul; it is a fruit that grows not in the garden of philosophy, but is of a heavenly birth: it is therefore very observable that contentment is joined with godliness, and is profitable: "godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Tim.6:6).

Contentment is an intrinsical thing: Contentment hath both fountain and stream in the soul…Thieves may plunder us of our money and plate, but not of this pearl of contentment, unless we are willing to part with it, for it is locked up in the cabinet of the heart; the soul which is possessed of this rich treasure of contentment, is like Noah in the ark, that can sing in the midst of a deluge"

Contentment is a habitual thing: It shines with a fixed light in the firmament of the soul. Contentment does not appear only now and then, as some stars which are seen but seldom; it is a settled attitude of the heart.

Thomas Watson, the Art of Divine Contentment (1855)

Confidence leading to contentment. 

Psalm 125:1-2  

Those who trust in the LORD
         Are like Mount Zion,
         Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
         So the LORD surrounds His people
         From this time forth and forever.  

Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith

Unstaggering Trustfulness
He shall not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. (Psalm 112:7)

Suspense is dreadful. When we have no news from home, we are apt to grow anxious, and we cannot be persuaded that "no news is good news." Faith is the cure for this condition of sadness; the Lord by His Spirit settles the mind in holy serenity, and all fear is gone as to the future as well as the present.

The fixedness of heart spoken of by the psalmist is to be diligently sought after. It is not believing this or that promise of the Lord, but the general condition of unstaggering trustfulness in our God, the confidence which we have in Him that He will neither do us ill Himself nor suffer anyone else to harm us. This constant confidence meets the unknown as well as the known of life. Let the morrow be what it may, our God is the God of tomorrow. Whatever events may have happened, which to us are unknown, our Jehovah is God of the unknown as well as of the known. We are determined to trust the Lord, come what may. If the very worst should happen, our God is still the greatest and best. Therefore will we not fear though the postman's knock should startle us or a telegram wake us at midnight. The Lord liveth, and what can His children fear?

Charles Haddon Spurgeon 

Consequent Absolute Necessity

Redemption Accomplished and Applied

Notes, Chapter One (con't.)

 

Why did Christ have to die?  Why was it necessary?

 

We looked briefly at one common answer to this nearly universal question, the Hypothetical Necessity.  Today we'll look at the most commonly held view, the classical Protestant view of Consequent Absolute Necessity.

 

In a nutshell, this view begins with the understanding that God didn't have to save anyone; it was entirely according to the good pleasure of His Will that He purposed to save a people for Himself:

 

Ephesians 1:5-7  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

 

In other words, the saving of fallen man was not of absolute necessity in and of itself, however, once decreed, it followed that sin must, by necessity, be atoned for--absolutely.  Because God purposed to save us, it became necessary "to secure this salvation through a satisfaction that could be rendered only through substitutionary sacrifice and blood-bought redemption."

 

Murray lays out six reasons that a substitutionary sacrifice is absolutely necessary and he reminds us that all these Scriptural references must be taken "together and cumulatively."

 

1. Christ, our suffering Captain:

 

Hebrews 2:10-17  For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying:

    “ I will declare Your name to My brethren;
      In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
13 And again:
    “ I will put My trust in Him.”

And again:
    “ Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”

 

14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. 17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

 

In order for us to be "accepted in the beloved as adopted children, we needed a "suffering Captain."  Ephesians 1 tells us that that Captain is Christ Himself.

 

2. Eternal Life or Eternal Perdition?

 John 3:16  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotton Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. 

 

Murray explains that the positive reading of this verse tells us that those who believe in the One He has given will have everlasting life.  From this statement we can deduce it's corollary; the negative reading of the verse:  Those who do not believe will perish eternally.  John 3:16 also speaks to the uniqueness of Christ as the absolute answer; there is no other alternative.

 

3. "The efficacy of Christ's work is contingent upon the unique constitution of Christ's person."  So serious is our sin, so utterly does it separate us that only the "perfect, final, transcendant efficacy" of Christ's sacrifice can atone for it:

 

Hebrews 1:1-3 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 

 

Hebrews 2:9-18  9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
  
10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying:

“ I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
13 And again:
    “ I will put My trust in Him.”
And again:
    “ Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”

14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. 17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted. 

 

Hebrews 9:9-14  9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— 10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
   
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

 

Hebrews 9:22-28  22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

 

We usually think of the Levitical sacrifices as being the forerunner to the sacrifice of Christ, however, as the verses above explain, they themselves were copies of things in the heavens where the blood of Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.

 

This application of the blood of Christ in the heavenlies was of absolute necessity because:

 

a) sin is an absolute reality

b) only a person with flesh and blood can bleed and die and only "the effulgence of the Fathger's glory and the express image of  His substance"--pure, righteous, and holy--could secure forgiveness of sin.

 

4.  Not only does the atonement secure remission of sin--because of Christ's perfect righteousness and obedience it secures our justification as well.  It is not only forgiveness we require; we need righteousness and only the perfect, obedient righteousness of Christ is the remedy for our condition.

 Galatians 3:21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.

 

5.  The infinite, supreme sacrifice of Christ demonstrates the love of God.

 

 Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

 

1 John 4:10  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

 

Romans 8:32  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

 

And finally, 6. Not only does Christ's sacrifice secure remission of sin and justification, it vidicates the demands of justice: 

Romans 3:21-26  But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

 

". . .in the work of Christ the dictates of holiness and the demands of justice have been fully vindicated.

 

Murray concludes Chapter One with this thought:

 

"The more we emphasize the inflexible demands of justice and holiness the more marvelous become the love of God and its provisions."

 

UPDATE:  Pam of "a rustling of leaves" is blogging her way through Redemption Accomplished and Applied, too.  Here is a link to her reflections on Chapter One.

Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith

TRUTH wears well. Time tests it, but it right well endures the trial. If, then, I have spoken the truth, and have for the present to suffer for it, I must be content to wait. If also I believe the truth of God and endeavor to declare it, I may meet with much opposition, but I need not fear, for ultimately the truth must prevail.

What a poor thing is the temporary triumph of falsehood! 'A lying lip is but for a moment!' It is a mere gourd, which comes up in a night, and perishes in a night; and the greater its development the more manifest its decay. On the other hand, how worthy of an immortal being is the avowal and defense of that truth which can never change; the everlasting gospel, which is established in the immutable truth of an unchanging God! An old proverb saith, 'He that speaks truth shames the devil.' Assuredly he that speaks the truth of God will put to shame all the devils in hell, and confound all the seed of the serpent which now hiss out their falsehoods.

O my heart, take care that thou be in all things on the side of truth, both in small things and great; but, specially, on the side of Him by whom grace and truth have come among men!

Charles Haddon Spurgeon 

Quote of the Week

 My friend, Leslie, from Lux Venit left this quote in the comments section of a recent post:  Love's Determinate Purpose.  How deep the Father's love for us. . .

"...And so we must say that this love of the Father was at no point more intensely in exercise than when the Son was actively drinking the cup of unrelieved damnation, than when he was enduring as substitute the full toll of the Father's wrath...What love for men that the Father should execute upon his own Son the full toll of holy wrath, so that we should never taste it!" (from Murray, Collected Writings, as quoted in Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, pg. 642)

How Deep the Father’s Love for Us

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss –
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life –
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart –
His wounds have paid my ransom.

Words and Music by Stuart Townend, 1995

Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith

February 25
Set Apart

Ye shall be named the priests of the Lord. (Isaiah 61:6)

This literal promise to Israel belongs spiritually to the seed after the Spirit, namely, to all believers. If we live up to our privileges, we shall live unto God so clearly and distinctly that men shall see that we are set apart for holy service and shall name us the priests of the Lord. We may work or trade as others do, and yet we may be solely and wholly the ministering servants of God. Our one occupation shall be to present the perpetual sacrifice of prayer, and praise, and testimony, and self-consecration to the living God by Jesus Christ.

This being our one aim, we may leave distracting concerns to those who have no higher calling. "Let the dead bury their dead." It is written, "Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vine-dressers," They may manage politics, puzzle out financial problems, discuss science, and settle the last new quibbles of criticism; but we will give ourselves unto such service as becomes those who, like the Lord Jesus, are ordained to a perpetual priesthood.

Accepting this honorable promise as involving a sacred duty, let us put on the vestments of holiness and minister before the Lord all day long.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon 

Hypothetical or Absolute Necessity?

Redemption Accomplished and Applied

Notes, Chapter One (con't.)

 

 After Murray establishes that it was God's infinite love and wisdom, according to His good pleasure, that established the atonement as the means of redeeming a people for Himself, He asks the question that theologians, academicians, laity and countless 4th grade Sunday School kids have asked:  Why?  Why did He chose to sacrifice His Only Son?  Why did Jesus have to die a cruel death on the cross?  Why the cross?

 

He asks these questions in a particularly pointed manner:

 

Why did not God realize the purpose of His love for mankind by the word of His power and the fiat of His will?  If we say that he could not, do we not impugn His power?  If we say that He could but He would not, do we not impugn His wisdom?  Such questions are not scholastic subtleties or vain curiositities.  To evade them is to miss something that is central in the interpretation of the redeeming work of Christ and to miss the vision of some of its essential glory.  Why did God become man?  Why, having become man, did He die?  Why, having died, did He die the accursed death of the cross?  This is the question of the necessity of the atonement.

 

Murray then presents the two common ways in which these questions have been been answered:  hypothetical necessity and consequent absolute necessity.   We'll look at hypothetical necessity first:

 

Hypothetical Necessity 

 

In it's simplest expression, Hypothetical Necessity brings forth the basic idea that God, to Whom and through Whom all things are possible, could have used any means whatsoever to forgive sin and redeem His elect. Even though "nothing inheres in the nature of God or in the nature of remission of sin that makes blood-shedding indispensible," it is the way that God chose and decreed.  This, according to Murry's explanation of this particular view, was the way that God purposed in Himself because "this is the way in which the greatest number of advantages concur and the way in which grace is more marvellously exhibited." Simply put, although He could have done it any way He wanted, this is the way He chose and decreed, and therefore, that is the way it was accomplished.

 

Scriptures cited to support this view include: 

 

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  Matthew 19:26

 

He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. 36 And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”  Mark 14:36 

 

(This view was held by Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.) 

 

Next up: The Consequent Absolute Necessity.  This one takes more time to develop properly, so I will tackle that in the next post. 

 

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt Soft

 

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt

Soft

Next Week's Theme:  Salty

 

This is Eve's last litter.  Seven velvety puppies.  There is nothing so warm and soft as a tiny, silken Vizla puppy. 

 

(If you want to see more pictures of the puppies as they got older, you can see them here and here.)

Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith

February 24
Hear So as to Be Heard

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (John 15:7)

Note well that we must hear Jesus speak if we expect Him to hear us speak. If we have no ear for Christ, He will have no ear for us. In proportion as we hear we shall be heard.

Moreover, what is heard must remain, must live in us, and must abide in our character as a force and a power. We must receive the truths which Jesus taught, the precepts which He issued, and the movements of His Spirit within us; or we shall have no power at the Mercy Seat.

Suppose our Lord's words to be received and to abide in us, what a boundless field of privilege is opened up to us! We are to have our will in prayer, because we have already surrendered our will to the Lord's command. Thus are Elijahs trained to handle the keys of heaven and lock or loose the clouds. One such man is worth a thousand common Christians. Do we humbly desire to be intercessors for the church and the world, and like Luther to be able to have what we will of the Lord? Then we must bow our ear to the voice of the Well-beloved, treasure up His words, and carefully obey them. He has need to "hearken diligently" who would pray effectually.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon 

Love's Determinate Purpose

Redemption Accomplished and Applied

Notes, Chapter One

 In Chapter One, Murray discusses the necessity of the atonement.  He begins by tracing the source or cause of the atonement to the Sovereign Love of God. (John 3:16)

The atonement "springs from" love--a love that elects and predestines.  It is a "distinguishing love."

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?  Romans 8:31-32

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Romans 8:29

. . .just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will  Ephesians 1:4,5

But what is sovereign love?  To understand that correctly, we must begin with the understanding that God is love.  Love is not something He chooses, rather something He IS.

It was of the free and sovereign good pleasure of His will, a good pleasure that eminated from the depths of His own goodness, that He chose a people to be heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.  The reason resides wholly in Himself and proceeds from the determinations that are peculiarly His as the "I am that I am."  The atonement does not win or constrain the love of God.  The love of God constrains the atonement as the means of accomplishing love's determinate purpose.

 Next:  What was the reason for the atonement?  Why is it necessary?

Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith

February 23
Unbroken Fellowship Essential

lf ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (John 15:7)

Of necessity we must be in Christ to live unto Him, and we must abide in Him to be able to claim the largesse of this promise from Him. To abide in Jesus is never to quit Him for another love or another object, but to remain in living, loving, conscious, willing union with Him. The branch is not only ever near the stem but ever receiving life and fruitfulness horn it. All true believers abide in Christ in a sense; but there is a higher meaning, and this we must know before we can gain unlimited power at the throne. "Ask what ye will" is for Enochs who walk with God, for Johns who lie in the Lord's bosom, for those whose union with Christ leads to constant communion.

The heart must remain in love, the mind must be rooted in faith, the hope must be cemented to the Word, the whole man must be joined unto the Lord, or else it would be dangerous to trust us with power in prayer. The carte blanche can only be given to one whose very life is, "Not I, but Christ liveth in me." O you who break your fellowship, what power you lose! If you would be mighty in your pleadings, the Lord Himself must abide in you, and you in Him.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon 

A Poetic Explanation

This doesn't exactly fit with Rebecca's Children's Poetry Month but I suspect that most 10 year olds would probably understand this much better than I do!  I do know enough about computers to think this is hysterically funny.  I read it aloud to myself, twice. 

Why Computers Sometimes Crash! by "Dr. Seuss."
(Read this to yourself aloud)
 

If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port, and the bus is
interrupted at a very last resort, and the access of the memory makes
your floppy disk abort, then the socket packet pocket has an error to
report.

If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash, and the
double-clicking icon puts your window in the trash, and your data is
corrupted cause the index doesn't hash, then your situation's hopeless
and your system's gonna crash!

If the label on the cable on the table at your house, says the network is
connected to the button on your mouse, but your packets want to tunnel to
another protocol, that's repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall...

And your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gauss, so your
icons in the window are as wavy as a souse; then you may as well reboot
and go out with a bang, 'cuz sure as I'm a poet, the 'puter's gonna hang.


When the copy on your floppy's getting sloppy in the disk, and the macro
code instructions cause unnecessary risk, then you'll have to flash
the memory and you'll want to RAM your ROM, and then quickly turn off the
computer and be sure to tell your Mom!

 

Sent to me this morning by my son.  Author Unknown. 

Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith

February 22
Past Deliverance Begets Faith

David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. (1 Samuel 17:37)

This is not a promise if we consider only the words, but it is truly so as to its sense; for David spoke a word which the Lord endorsed by making it true. He argued from past deliverances that he should receive help in a new danger. In Jesus all the promises are "Yea" and "Amen" to the glory of God by us, and so the Lord's former dealings with His believing people will be repeated.

Come, then, let us recall the Lord's former lovingkindness. We could not have hoped to be delivered aforetime by our own strength; yet the Lord delivered us. Will He not again save us? We are sure He will. As David ran to meet his foe, so will we. The Lord has been with us, He is with us, and He has said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee," Why do we tremble? Was the past a dream? Think of the dead bear and lion. Who is this Philistine? True, he is not quite the same, and is neither bear nor lion; but then God is the same, and His honor is as much concerned in the one case as in the other. He did not save us from the beasts of the forest to let a giant kill us. Let us be of good courage.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon 

Early Morning Blessings

I have been blessed beyond measure already this morning. 

I got up early because I couldn't sleep.  I tossed and turned and lay in bed, praying and thinking.  Something is weighing on my heart and mind so I got up, got dressed and began this first day of Lent.

I made a quick, quiet cup of tea and sat down here at the computer to post up Spurgeon's devotional and check my email.  My plan was to get it all out of the way and then shut down the computer.

The first thing I did was check email.  I subscribe to a Daily Bible Reading Plan and I always start my day with a chapter from the Bible.  This morning's chapter is Ephesians 1, one of my all time favorite passages. 

Ephesians 1

 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

I can't think of a more perfect start to Lent than to meditate upon these verses in Ephesians.  To begin at the beginning; with God's eternal plan to bless us with spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ.

These verses ring with the eternal purpose of God: to accomplish the good pleasure of His Will, to the praise of His glory:

according to the good pleasure of His will

to the praise of the glory of His grace

according to the riches of His grace

according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself

according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will

to the praise of His glory

God's purposes start with Himself.  I must start where He starts.

And what is it that brings Him pleasure and glory?  He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.

To begin a time of reflection on the sufferings of Christ in His atoning work with the reminder that God was at work in it with purpose from eternity, that it brings Him glory, that He is ultimately gathering all things together in one in Christ--what could be better?

But Paul goes on; he prays for us:
   

15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23  which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Truly, as the verse on which Spurgeon based today's devotional says, He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great.

Truly, He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith

February 21
Blessing on Littleness

He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great. (Psalm 115:13)

This is a word of cheer to those who are of humble station and mean estate. Our God has a very gracious consideration for those of small property, small talent, small influence, small weight. God careth for the small things in creation and even regards sparrows in their lighting upon the ground. Nothing is small to God, for He makes use of insignificant agents for the accomplishment of His purposes. Let the least among men seek of God a blessing upon his littleness, and he shall find his contracted sphere to be a happy one.

Among those who fear the Lord there are little and great. Some are babes, and others are giants. But these are all blessed. Little faith is blessed faith. Trembling hope is blessed hope. Every grace of the Holy Spirit, even though it be only in the bud, bears a blessing within it. Moreover, the Lord Jesus bought both the small and the great with the same precious blood, and He has engaged to preserve the lambs as well as the full-grown sheep. No mother overlooks her child because it is little; nay, the smaller it is, the more tenderly does she nurse it. If there be any preference with the Lord, He does not arrange them as "great and small" but as "small and great."

Charles Haddon Spurgeon 

To observe or not to observe

That is the question.

 I've received several questions via email about the appropriateness of Lenten observations.  I understand the initial concern.  I didn't grow up in a church that observed Lent, so it seemed so, well, extra-Biblical to me and, after all, "aren't we Protestants?--Protestants don't DO that! (. . .do they?)"

Here's a exerpt from an article that a pastor wrote to his congregation.  I linked to it last year, but the link no longer works.  Thankfully, my pastor sent it to HIS congregation so now I can share at least some of it with you here.  

The Benefit of Taking Lent Seriously, by Clay Holland, Christ the King PCA, Houston

(excerpt) 

The first questions we must ask with respect to Lent are:  (1) Is it required for followers of Christ, and (2) Is it forbidden for followers of Christ?  I believe the answer to both of these questions is “No,” and the better question with respect to Lent is:  Is it wise for followers of Christ?  Observing Lent is not required for a Christian because it would suggest that placing our faith in Christ is not sufficient for salvation.  Observing Lent is also not forbidden because the Scriptures make it clear that observing particular times and seasons are not necessarily the point.  We are free to do so if these things do not become substitutes for our reliance upon the gospel (for a fuller treatment of this subject, please see Colossians 1:13-3:17).

            This leaves us with the wisdom question.  In this way, Lent is similar to other seasons of the church year.  For example, the Bible calls us to live our lives in eager expectation of the coming of Christ, but it is helpful for us to focus on that during the season of Advent.  Every Sunday worship service is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, but it is helpful to focus our attention on the wonderful ramifications of that biblical truth during Easter.  In the same way, we are called to live lives of repentance and reliance upon the gospel, but it is helpful for us to take time during Lent to examine our hearts and spend time and effort concentrating on repentance and looking ahead to the celebration of Easter.

            Traditionally, this time of concerted repentance has involved some form of self-denial (hence my childhood angst with the cookies).  Although this takes many different forms, it is also wise because it reminds us that what we do with our bodies has spiritual ramifications.  We are not disembodied souls – we are a unity of body and soul.  Feeling hungry, for example, reminds us to pray and look to Christ as the “bread of life.”  Sacrificing time watching television or chatting with friends on the internet gives us more time to read, pray, and worship.

 I will miss you all during the time I am "blog bound" here at Hiraeth and I'll look forward to coming around to visit and seeing what has been going on in Bloglandia. 

 I will certainly update the Chequebook of the Bank of Faith and I may share some thoughts from my reading.  I'm not on a blogging vacation exactly, just staying "home."

Moving subscriptions

If you notice that you now have one less subscriber in Bloglines, don't worry; it's probably just me.  I'm going to try to get all my subscriptions transferred over from Bloglines to Newsgator today.